Plastics Crisis – Acrylic hats/sweaters

When I was rearranging my closet for the season (putting away winter clothes and getting out summer clothes), I decided to donate my fuzzy acrylics rather than saving them for next winter. They are the items in my wardrobe that shed the most plastic fibers even though I wash them in cold water in a laundry bag and air dry them flat. The items were in two categories – sweaters and a slouch hat that I crocheted recently from a skein of acrylic yard I bought years ago.

Both items can be replaced with similar items made with natural fibers next winter. They might be a bit more expensive, but my clothes tend to last a long time - so it is worth it  to buy wool, silk, or cotton sweaters…and it is easy to find cotton crochet thread/yarns for making slouch hats!

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 25, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

4/9/2026 Yale 360 A More Troubling Picture of Sea Level Rise Is Coming into View - Sea levels are much higher than we thought. Real-world oceans are making a mockery of flood-risk forecasts based on crude global modeling. And to make matters worse, coastal lands almost everywhere are subsiding faster than anyone realized — often many times faster than the seas are rising. 

4/10/2026 BBC The air throughout our homes is infused with microplastics. But there are things you can do to breathe less of them - Scientists believe the majority of our exposure to microplastics happens when we're indoors. To solve the microplastic pollution crisis will take a lot more than changes within the home – there are plenty of broader sustainability concerns too. If moving to replace synthetic fibers in your home with natural fibers, for instance, there's also the greater water and land use from organic cotton use to think about. Or if choosing to ventilate your home more to usher away microplastics, that pollution is only being pushed outdoors. Short of systemic change and a global reduction from the 460 million tons of plastic made each year, there's only so much individuals can do. 

4/9/2026 National Parks Traveler Deer Test Positive for Chronic Wasting Disease at Catoctin Mountain Park – We enjoyed Catoctin when we lived in Maryland….I’m sad that the deer there and in nearby parks have tested positive for CWD.

4/08/2026 Smithsonian Magazine See the 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Roman Cargo from an Accidental Shipwreck Discovered at the Bottom of a Lake in Switzerland - Roughly 2,000 years ago, an ancient Roman ship sailed across a large lake in what is now Switzerland, transporting supplies ranging from olive oil to chariot wheels. For some unknown reason, the vessel scattered its cargo across the lakebed. The cargo is in good condition, but researchers are concerned it may become damaged or destroyed by erosion, boat anchors, vandals and looters. As a precautionary measure, they decided to bring the most vulnerable pieces up from the depths.

4/10 2026 Artnet How a Hopi Potter Named Nampeyo Became a 19th-Century Art Star - Born in 1859 in the village of Hano, a Tewa village on First Mesa, in modern-day Arizona, Nampeyo (1859–1942) is believed to have learned the art of pottery making from her paternal grandmother. By the 1870s, Nampeyo was selling her works at trading posts throughout the region. Nampeyo’s legacy is a complex one, shaped by ancestry, archaeology, and the shifting trade systems of the still-expanding United States as it entered the 20th century.

4/11/2026 Science Daily Unusual airborne toxin detected in the U.S. for the first time - Scientists searching for air pollution clues stumbled onto something unexpected: toxic MCCPs drifting through the air for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. Although these pollutants have previously been detected in places like Antarctica and Asia, scientists had struggled to measure them in the air over the Western Hemisphere until this study. These chemicals are commonly used in industrial processes, including metalworking fluids and the production of PVC and textiles. They frequently appear in wastewater and can end up in biosolid fertilizer, also called sewage sludge, which is produced during wastewater treatment. The researchers believe the MCCPs they detected in Oklahoma likely originated from nearby fields where this type of fertilizer had been applied.

4/8/2026 My Modert Met Winners of the Scottish Nature Photography Awards 2025 Celebrate Scotland’s Wild Beauty - The winning photos span 10 primary categories, including Environmental, Natural Abstract, Scottish Botanical, and Scottish Wildlife Portrait, among others. I appreciated the beauty among so many other blog posts that were somber….depressing.

4/3/2026 NWF Blog How to Grow More - Conservation outreach professionals are tasked with the challenge of not only clearly explaining conservation programs but also personally connecting with farmers. This combination of technical skills and personal communication skills is rare, since the skills are seldom taught in school and professional development opportunities are uncommon or unsupported.

4/3/2026 The Conversation Toxic dust from California’s shrinking Salton Sea is harming children’s lung growth - As the lake shrinks, wind blowing across the exposed lake bed kicks up toxic dust left by years of agriculture chemicals and metals washing into the lake. That dust makes its way into the lungs of the children of the Imperial Valley. The study began to show that higher levels of dust exposure, especially among those children living closer to the sea, are linked to poorer lung function, as well as reductions in children’s lung growth over time. Reduced lung function increases the risk for chronic respiratory disease, such as COPD, or more frequent respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, as adults.

3/19/2026 Mongabay Should potentially harmful chemicals be appraised by class, not one at a time? - Some scientists and health advocates are pushing for a “Six Classes” framework that evaluates entire groups of chemicals, or chemically related subgroups, together, flagging them for scrutiny before harm is documented rather than after. The framework targets six broad categories of chemicals that share many common traits: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), flame retardants, phthalates and bisphenols, antimicrobials, certain solvents, and certain metals.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 18, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

4/2/2026 NPR EPA flags microplastics, pharmaceuticals as contaminants in drinking water – A good move….but not enough, by itself, to do what needs to be done to improve water quality. It seems out of step with what the EPA has been doing recently so I am skeptical.

4/2/2026 Science Daily Study finds dangerous lead levels in children’s clothing - Researchers testing children’s shirts from multiple retailers found every sample exceeded U.S. safety limits, raising concerns about toxic exposure—especially since young kids often chew on clothing. Brightly colored fabrics like red and yellow showed particularly high levels, likely due to chemicals used to fix dyes. Simulations suggest that even brief mouthing could expose children to unsafe amounts of lead, a substance known to harm brain development and behavior. None of the items tested met U.S. safety standards.

4/2/2026 National Parks Traveler Seventy-Three Percent of Marine Protected Areas Are Polluted by Sewage - A study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Queensland (attached) found that nearly three out of four of the world's marine protected areas (MPAs) are polluted by sewage. In the ocean regions most critical for coral reefs and tropical sea life, the problem is even worse: between 87 percent and 92 percent of protected areas are affected, and typical pollution levels inside these zones are ten times higher than in surrounding unprotected waters. Over 16,000 MPAs globally were evaluated in the study.

4/1/2026 Clean Technica U.S. Coal Exports Decreased in 2025 after 4 Years of Growth - The decrease in U.S. coal exports largely reflects a 92% decrease in exports to China in 2025 compared with 2024, after China imposed a 15% additional tariff on imports of U.S. coal in February of last year and a 34% reciprocal tariff on imports from the United States in April. It also reflects a global market characterized by ample supply and soft demand, which caused prices to decline, making it increasingly difficult for U.S. coal exporters to earn profits. Finally, coal generation in the U.S. domestic coal market rose 13% in 2025, leading to a 12% increase in electric power coal consumption after three straight years of decreases.

3/9/2026 The Scientist Nearly Ten Percent of Cancer Papers Flagged as Potentially Fake - Over the last two decades, the scientific literature has been flooded by low-quality research papers produced by for-profit organizations known as paper mills. It is estimated that suspected paper mill products account for two to 46 percent of manuscripts submitted to scientific journals, with the estimated rate of problematic articles in biomedical research reaching nearly six percent in 2023.

4/1/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Humans Might Struggle to Make Babies in Space. Sperm Gets Disoriented in Microgravity - Many of the proteins found on sperm act as mechanosensors, tiny molecular devices that detect physical forces. Remove the force of gravity, and it stands to reason that these sensors would be thrown off, disrupting the sperm’s ability to orient and navigate. As we progress toward becoming a spacefaring or multi-planetary species, understanding how microgravity affects the earliest stages of reproduction is critical.

4/1/2026 National Parks Traveler Study Finds Microplastics on 45 Percent of Beaches - A 2025 study collected samples from 209 beaches across 39 countries and 6 ocean basins, discovering that 45 percent of the beaches contained “suspected microplastics” (those visually identified but not yet confirmed through further analysis). Some of the samples came from Padre Island National Seashore in Texas, where microplastics may indirectly reduce the turtle nesting success of species like the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.

4/1/2026 NPR The oil industry is betting big on plastics. Here's what that means for the future - Beth Gardiner, a journalist and author of the new book "Plastic Inc.: The Secret History And Shocking Future Of Big Oil's Biggest Bet." In it, she argues that while millions of us have been trying to use less plastic, the fossil fuel industry has been making more. Plasticis Big Oil's plan B. The less we use, the more they make.

4/20/2026 Smithsonian Magazine This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics from Drinking Water - Her current prototype, which is about the size of a standard bag of flour, consists of three modules. The first unit, about a liter in volume, holds the contaminated water inside it, while the second stores the magnetic oil-based ferrofluid. The core process takes place in the third module, which is much smaller. A magnetic field pulls the microplastics out of the water, and the ferrofluid is recovered and reused in a closed loop. --- I hope there is follow-up to this story!

3/30/2026 CNN Millions of preterm births and thousands of infant deaths linked to plastic chemical - Two chemicals used to make plastic more flexible are linked to nearly 2 million premature births and the deaths of 74,000 newborns worldwide in 2018, according to a new study. Babies who survive may have breathing problems, feeding difficulties, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, vision problems, and hearing problems. he two chemicals in the study — Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate, or DEHP, and its cousin diisononyl phthalate, or DiNP — are part of a family of synthetic chemicals called phthalates. Meaningful protection cannot rely solely on individual behavior. The most effective solutions are upstream, including stronger regulations, safer product formulations, better labeling, and improved environmental management and regulatory oversight.

Plastic Crisis - Clamshells

My husband said he wanted one serving of carrot cake for his birthday….and he didn’t want to go to a restaurant to get it. So - I opted to buy 2 pieces at the grocery store rather than making a cake at home and having a lot to freeze; it would take months for us to finish. I suspected that the only offering the grocery store would have would be packaged in a plastic clamshell – single use and not recyclable.

The cake was not going to be heated in the plastic, and it was unlikely that the container and cake had been heated together prior to me buying it…. better than a case of bottled water which you never know what happened to it along the way.

The clamshells are popular with stores because they are cheap and don’t weigh much; the open clamshells stack so they take less space. Customers probably appreciate being able to see the condition of the cake through the container.

Before plastic, pieces of cake were put in white boxes that were flat then formed into a box immediately before they were used. It was usually in a bakery setting rather than a large grocery store and the customer watched the cake being placed in the box. It required a clerk to be at the counter all the time…so more labor intensive…but also more social interaction. Bakeries often developed a familiarity with their customers that is entirely missing in the modern grocery store.

What is the Beyond plastic option? Right now, the only one might be making the cake yourself from ingredients that can often be purchased not in plastic (flour, eggs, vanilla, etc.) even though many grocery stores only have carrots in plastic these days. Alternatively – the grocery stores need to be searching for a non-plastic solution to reduce the burden on landfills and avoid causing more health impacts to ourselves and wildlife from plastic accumulation in our environment.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 11, 2026

2/23/2026 I’m Plastic Free Watched The Plastic Detox? Your Guide to Reducing Microplastics Exposure - The Plastic Detox is a powerful documentary exposing the hidden health risks of plastics in our homes. As six couples commit to removing plastic from their homes, the experience transforms their families in lasting ways. The documentary uncovers what microplastics are, how their associated chemicals affect our bodies, and what practical steps individuals can take to regain control over their health.

3/30/2026 BBC Salmon sperm to bird droppings: The science behind bizarre skincare trends - While even the most bizarre of skincare routine fads may have some scientific backing, scientists think that options for the next generation of skincare therapies will involve, among other things, finding new ways to optimize collagen supplementation. Other new therapies are exploring novel ways of manipulating the skin microbiome, the populations of invisible microbes that live on our faces and contribute heavily to the inflammation present in our skin.

3/30/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Sharks in the Bahamas Test Positive for Drugs, Including Cocaine and Painkillers - Sharks in the Bahamas are ingesting drugs—including cocaine, caffeine and painkillers. Scientists identified blood contamination in about one-third of tested animals, findings that further highlight how humans are harming marine environments. While the detection of cocaine—an illicit substance—tends to draw immediate attention, the widespread presence of caffeine and pharmaceuticals in the blood of many analyzed sharks is equally alarming.

3/30/2026 ScienceDaily Simple therapies beat drugs for knee arthritis pain relief - Non-drug treatments like knee braces, hydrotherapy, and exercise can significantly ease knee osteoarthritis symptoms. These approaches not only reduce pain and improve mobility, but also avoid the risks tied to common medications.

3/27/2026 NWF Blog Building hope, organizing communities, and strategic planning on Florida’s Coast - To learn more about the Tampa Bay Coastal Master Plan and efforts to use nature-based solutions to adapt to sea level rise and climate change, with resilient strategies like living shorelines, habitat enhancements, and habitat preservation, please visit this site.

3/26/2026 The Conversation Mosquitoes carrying malaria are evolving more quickly than insecticides can kill them – researchers pinpoint how - The mosquito-borne disease malaria kills over 600,000 people annually. Mosquitoes are quickly evolving counterstrategies that make these insecticides ineffective, putting millions of people at greater risk of deadly infection. Mosquitoes today from Ghana to Malawi are often able to survive insecticide concentrations 10 times the previously lethal dose. Genome-scale sequencing remains important to detect new or unexpected evolutionary responses. The risk of adaptation is highest under a continuous, strong selection pressure, so minimizing, switching and staggering pesticides can help thwart resistance.

3/25/2026 CleanTechnica Why Nature-Based Investments Produce Results - Nature-based solutions have the potential to lift a billion people out of poverty, create 80 million jobs, add an additional $2.3 trillion of growth to the global economy, and prevent $3.7 trillion of climate change damages. Investing in biodiversity conservation and restoring ecosystems have a lot going for them.

3/23/2025 NASA A Fault Line in Bloom – Flowers had turned areas around Soda Lake a bright shade of yellow, and by mid-month, they had spread even farther. Yellow wildflower blooms are visible amid the dendritic network of streams flanking the alkaline lake, which dries out completely during drought years. Colors were particularly vibrant across the Carrizo Plain National Monument, even decorating meadows along the zipper-shaped San Andreas Fault with splashes of purple due to blooms of Phacelia ciliata.

3/30/2026 National Parks Traveler Three Florida Reef Corals "Functionally Extinct" Due To Marine Heat Waves - Extinction has claimed staghorn and elkhorn corals, whose distinctive antler-like arms once peppered the sea floor off Florida but now are all but impossible to find thanks to warming waters and disease throughout their coastal habitat. They are “functionally extinct,” meaning they lack numbers and health to survive threats facing them in the wild. It doesn’t mean they are entirely gone. Scientists are keeping the two species alive in coral nurseries, both onshore and offshore. Many facilities are working to preserve them and raise their offspring as just one aspect of efforts to save the Florida Reef, a 350-mile-long collection of reefs besieged by disease and marine heat waves since the 1970s that have robbed the reef of an estimated 98 percent of its live coral cover. Pillar coral was designated functionally extinct in 2020. On a positive note - elkhorn and staghorn corals typically are ready to move from onshore nurseries into the ocean in about 18 months.

3/30/2026 Yale Environment 360 Even a Few Scattered Trees on Farmland Can Be a Boon for Wildlife - ll told, 58 scientists took part in the effort, using on-the-ground surveys, sound monitoring, and satellite imagery to track close to 2,000 species of birds across more than 1,000 forest remnants. They found that a fragment of forest surrounded by farmland might host more than twice as many bird species as a reservoir island of the same size. 

Plastic Crisis – So Many Reusable Bags

I have started sorting through the reusable bags I’ve gotten from conferences and as gifts after a donation…realizing that there are quite a few of them. One of my sisters did the same thing and I brought them back last time I went to Dallas. There are some that were brought to the last Master Naturalist meeting that I still need to retrieve from the person that collected them; they said there were quite a few. It is good to have a collection for our “BYOB (Bring your own bag)” campaign to reduce single-use plastic bags. Our plan is to hand them out to anyone wanting one when we are tabling at events and farmers markets.

While I was going through the bags, I realized how many were from birding events….they usually have the name of the event on the bag but not always the year. Sometimes the charities broadcast their name on the bags they send as gifts, other times it is just a pretty bag.

It will be interesting to see how people respond to the idea. I’ve been using my own bags for more than a decade but it’s obvious when I go to the store that most people have yet to make the transition.  To me -  it was one of the easiest ways to reduce single-use plastic entering my home! And it has long become habitual rather than something I think much about.

Plastics Crisis – Events in April

There seems to be a lot of plastic related activities on my calendar for April.

Beyond Plastics Ozarks will have a table at the Earth Day Music Fest in Springfield later in the month…lots of prep and logistics to work through between now and the event. Info sheets are the easy items …we are developing things to draw people to the table (maybe a plastic trash monster…maybe a big BYOB (standing for “Bring Your Own Bag”!) and then handing out reusable bags collected from various places or maybe having a ‘craft’ making a reusable bag from an old t-shirt).

There will also be a day with Stream Teams United at the state capitol to learn more of the legislative process and perhaps meet our state Representatives/Senators. I’ve never done anything like this before so it will be a learning experience. There are several plastic related bills that have been proposed in this session.

In early May we have an after school program for K-5 students at a smaller town school district northeast of Springfield. The educator that works with the Show-me Less Plastic project is helping with it. It should be a fun day for us and the students.

There is still a big challenge of getting more people actively engaged. There seem to be many people interested but we are yet not connecting with people that want to go beyond individual action at this point.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 28, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

3/23/2026 Washington Post What an oncologist wants you to know about environmental cancer risks - Given what we know about how microplastics can cause damage in the body, the increase in early onset colorectal cancer in the U.S. and the similarities in timing between the increase in cancer rates and the rapid increase in microplastics in the environment, many experts suspect that microplastics are a risk.

3/14/2026 BBC The strange deep-sea creatures that eat whales - Whales usually die far out to sea, scattered along their often vast migration paths. t first, the carcass may float as the gases inside make it swell up like a balloon. Then the whale sinks – through the sunlight, twilight and midnight zones – eventually reaching the darkness of the abyss, its final resting place. In death, the whale gives life, becoming an immense island of food.

3/16/2026 MSN Couples with infertility 'detox' from plastic to get pregnant in new Netflix doc. Does it work? - A new Netflix documentary called "The Plastic Detox" is a sobering look at all the ways that plastic harms our bodies and the planet — especially our reproductive health. Shanna Swan, Ph.D., a professor at Mount Sinai in New York City, is one of the prominent figures sounding the alarm on the effects of environmental pollutants on fertility. For the documentary, she worked with five couples who'd been struggling to get pregnant for years without a medical explanation. The goal? To reduce their exposure to plastics to see if they could conceive. In the end of the documentary, it's revealed three of the couples had gotten pregnant, and one was expecting again. The results were also published in a study in the journal Toxins on March 16.

3/20/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Mexican Forests, Monarch Butterflies Halt Their Decline - For the past quarter century, the future of monarch butterflies has looked dire, with these iconic American insects flitting toward extinction. Now, however, there is at least a small reason for hope: New data from WWF Mexico, a large conservation group, offers further evidence that the decline of eastern monarchs — the world’s largest population — has stopped, even as the insects face worsening threats across their range.

3/16/2026 Our World in Data Why cheap waste management is key to stopping plastic pollution – I was disappointed in this article. They completely miss the issue of food packaged and heated in plastic. Yes – that plastic packaging does not get loose in the environment but the microplastics (and chemicals) that leach into food gets into our bodies. And the leachate coming off lined landfills in countries with good waste management systems includes microplastics that the sewage treatment plants don’t take out before the liquid is released back into streams….and that will continue to happen for many years to come. And what happens when the liners of the landfills begin to break down and the leachate goes more directly into the environment. The answer in probably not cheap waste management…we need to be look at less waste – particularly less plastic waste.

2/17/2026 NASA Winds Whip Up Fires and Dust on the Southern Plains – This satellite image is from mid-February but I noticed smoke in the air as I drove on I-44 east of Tulsa last weekend! I don’t know if it was wildfires or controlled burns…but I was glad I had a portable air purifier in my car!

3/21/2026 I’m Plastic Free 9 Essential Ways to Reduce Plastic Waste on Your 2026 Travels – I would add a reusable bowl/plate for hotel breakfasts (along with cutlery…I take stainless steel cutlery since I have an extra set…and simply clean then to reuse…I have a tin that keeps them together).

3/18/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Cannibalistic Blue Crabs Are Eating Their Younger Peers in Part of the Chesapeake Bay - Young blue crabs find refuge from many predators in the mid-salinity waters of some spots along the Chesapeake Bay. But there, they face another threat: Getting eaten by their older peers.

3/16/2026 National Parks Traveler What It Takes to Clean a Yellowstone Hot Spring - Cleaning hot springs is hard work! Some remediations, like the Grand Prismatic Overlook trail spring, require shovels, strainers, and grabber tools. The cleaning of Solitary Geyser, however, required a hook with a 16-foot extendable handle to remove large objects within the interior parts of the pool and hand rakes to collect the hundreds of wood splinters that had been thrown into the splash basins around the pool margin.

3/13/2026 Science Daily Microplastics may be quietly damaging your brain and fueling Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s - Researchers identified five key biological pathways that may allow microplastics to harm the brain. These include activating immune cells, increasing oxidative stress, disrupting the blood-brain barrier, interfering with mitochondria, and damaging neurons. The review also describes how microplastics might contribute to specific neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer's disease, they may promote the buildup of beta-amyloid and tau proteins. In Parkinson's disease, they could encourage aggregation of α-Synuclein and harm dopaminergic neurons. Additional studies are needed to confirm a direct causal link. Even so, the researchers recommend practical steps to reduce everyday exposure. We need to change our habits and use less plastic. Steer clear of plastic containers and plastic cutting boards, don't use the dryer, choose natural fibers instead of synthetic ones and eat less processed and packaged foods.

Plastic Crisis – The Plastic Detox

The Plastic Detox (trailer) is a documentary that was released by Netflix on March 16th. This documentary follows the research of Dr. Swan and other experts in the field, covering the impact on human development and showing how we can take matters into our own hands. It’s so easy for the microplastics conversation to be doom and gloom ---- this movie hints at a path forward…a hopeful component even while we acknowledge that there is a lot that needs to be done.

As a Missouri Master Naturalist, I am concerned of the degradation of the environment for wildlife (plants and animals) by plastics. The documentation of plastic impact on human health has a huge audience…and I am hopeful that some of the actions we take to detox for ourselves helps the larger environment as well.

The movie is well-timed for the outreach work the Beyond Plastics Ozarks (the local group of Beyond Plastics that I am part of) will be doing in the next few months! Many people will watch it on their own…and we might plan showing/discussion group sessions several times this year.

Plastic Crisis – Altered Purchasing

One way to have less plastic in the environment in the large term is to alter purchasing habits. I am noticing that I’ve applied what I’m learning about plastics to make some changes over the past few months…and I hope others will be thinking along the same lines. Our purchases are a signal to retailers; it would be great if enough people changed some of their purchasing habits enough for the retailers to take note and make some changes of their own!

I find myself looking much more closely when I shop….and skewing toward a no-plastic or less plastic option. I provide some examples and my rationale below.

For example – when I was looking for tea, I realized that there was a tin with loose tea on the shelf and I bought it. I’m still going to finish off the tea bags I have (paper…but could have plastic filaments or glue) but will stop buying other kinds of tea unless they somehow start certifying that they are plastic free.

Another example was a summer house dress. I checked the fiber content, and it was 100% cotton. I would not have purchased it otherwise! Yes – I still have a lot of synthetic fabrics in my closet that I will continue wearing until they are worn out– but I am buying clothes made with natural fiber fabric going forward.

There is sometimes a conflict between less plastic packaging and organic vegetables. One example from where I shop is bell peppers. The organic bell peppers come in plastic packaging. The non-organic peppers are offered either bulk (i.e. no plastic packaging) or in plastic packaging. Bell peppers are one of Consumer Reports’ 6 Fruits and Vegetables Loaded with Pesticides so I am opting for the organic ones even though they are in plastic packaging. This is a case where pesticide concern is high enough to skew toward organic. The organic bell peppers packaged in plastic packaging have probably not been exposed to heat…and I can remove the packaging as soon as I get them home. I still don’t like the packaging…and would prefer an option at the store for organic peppers without any packaging.

Some plastic packaging is more toxic – like Styrofoam. I buy frozen chicken breasts rather than fresh. Yes - they are in a plastic bag…but I’ve eliminated the Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap. I have no waste with the frozen and the bag has obviously never been exposed to heat. I thaw the chicken as I need it – in a glass container.

I will not buy plastic wrap again. I’ll use foil or parchment paper or a container with a lid rather than plastic wrap!

These are just a few examples….there will be many more I am sure. It would be easier if more of what I buy was offered in a non-plastic package!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 14, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

2/25/2026 The Scientist Forever Chemicals May Accelerate Aging in Middle-Aged Men - The team detected the PFAS perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA) in 95 percent of the participants. PFNA and PFOSA, both invented in the middle of the 20th century, are still used widely today in consumer products designed to be stain-, grease-, and water-repellent. To reduce risk, individuals can try to limit their consumption of packaged foods and avoid microwaving fast-food containers. Looking ahead, we are actively modeling how PFAS interacts with other common pollutants, as we need to understand the cumulative health risks of these chemical mixtures

3/1/2026 BBC Can ‘friction-maxxing’ fix your focus? - While modern technology can streamline day-to-day life, making everything from dating to food delivery more efficient, it may come at a cost: early data suggests that our attention span may be shortening, critical thinking capabilities weakening, emotional intelligence fading, and spatial memory getting worse as we offload human tasks to our devices. Analogue hobbies such as crafting, gardening or reading – which involve friction as opposed to scrolling or streaming – can act as "active meditation", calming the mind and reducing stress. One 2024 study of more than 7,000 adults living in England found that those who engaged in crafting or the creative arts were more likely to report significantly higher life satisfaction, a greater sense that life is worthwhile and increased happiness. 

2/24/2025 The New York Times Plastic, Plastic Everywhere - Peak oil may be on the horizon. But peak plastic is nowhere in sight. In a new book, “Plastic Inc.,” the journalist Beth Gardiner digs into an industry that mostly flies below the radar but has huge impacts on human health, environmental pollution and global warming.

3/5/2026 Yale 360 Species Slowdown: Is Nature’s Ability to Self-Repair Stalling? - When scientists recently analyzed hundreds of studies of ecosystems, they were surprised to see a marked slowing in the rate of species turnover. If new species don’t replace old ones, they say, ecosystems may have less flexibility to respond to habitat loss and climate change.

2/28/2026 KCTV A ban on mini liquor bottle sales in five Kansas City neighborhoods officially introduced - Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilwoman Melissa Robinson officially introduced an ordinance Thursday that would ban the sale of certain single-serve alcohol products in five Kansas City neighborhoods - — areas the city said have documented public safety concerns and recurring quality-of-life complaints from residents.

3/5/2026 The Conversation Choosing to buy organic food depends more on trust than taste - Organic labels work only when the system behind them is trusted. This has important implications at a time when food prices are rising and trust in public institutions is under pressure in many countries.

2/2/2026 Washington Post Baggies, retainers and more: 5 microplastics questions, answered - If you only have the bandwidth for a few battles, heating food in plastic is the bigger front. Most experts agree that ultra-processed foods are likely the biggest source overall in our diets. Food that comes packaged in plastic is obvious, but there are exposures during industrial processing that we don’t see. That’s one more reason to lean toward whole foods when you can.

3/4/2026 National Parks Traveler Study Finds Bird Populations Are In Decline As Panel Considers Weakening Key Act - Bird populations are in decline, with billions fewer birds are flying through North America compared to a decade ago, according to a study published in February 2026. The researchers found that about half of the 261 species analyzed showed significant declines from 1987 to 2021, and a quarter showed accelerating declines. The study points out that the declines are primarily because of high-intensity agriculture and warming temperatures. The findings come as a congressional panel is holding a hearing to consider weakening the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Extinction starts with declines like these, and birds are often the indicators that our environment is too toxic to support other life.

3/4/2026 Science Daily Millions with joint pain and osteoarthritis are missing the most powerful treatment - Despite affecting nearly 600 million people worldwide — and potentially a billion by 2050 — the most powerful treatment isn’t surgery or medication. It’s exercise.

2/26/2026 Canary Media Balcony solar is taking state legislatures by storm - Plug-in solar is already booming in Europe. As many as 4 million households in Germany have installed the systems, which people can order through Ikea. 28 states and D.C. are considering plug-in solar bills.

Plastic Crisis - Actions at the Community Level – February 2026

At the end of January, it seemed like my community level activities about plastics had started out at a bit faster than I anticipated….and I wondered if it would continue. February was a month of preparation for things that would happen in April and beyond; I didn’t anticipate that there would be plastic-related legislation to begin tracking too!  

There currently are two plastic-related bills filed in the Missouri House. Neither is on the House calendar but they both had ‘read second time’ action in February:

• HB 3193 - Phases out the use of single-use plastic products at Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites

• HB 3357 - Prohibits the sale of intravenous solution containers and intravenous tubing products intentionally made with DEHP

I will be following both; it will be my first experience with tracking something through the Missouri legislative process. Beyond Plastics Ozarks will have to decide how we want to include information about these in upcoming outreach activities.

Beyond Plastics Ozarks’ first tabling - outreach event will be in April – associated with an Earth Day music festival. I’ve requested copies of information sheets from Show-me Less Plastic and have ideas for additional handouts that are more locally focused. We’ll probably make a sign to advertise our ‘bring your own bag (BYOB)’ initiative that we’ll start at local farmer’s markets. I’m collecting rocks to keep handout pages secure on the table even if it is breezy.

I’ve been asked to do a presentation at the state conference for Master Gardeners on microplastics in June. I’ve gathered some presentation materials from others and will facilitate a brainstorming session that will develop some gardener specific ideas on reducing microplastics.

Having a plastics movie showing and lining up tabling at farmer’s markets is still on the Beyond Plastics Ozarks ‘to do’ list. It looks like the first 6 months of 2026 are going to be busy!

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 07, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

2/20/2026 BBC How ultra-processed foods affect our gut microbiome - The additives added to processed food to keep it fresher for longer might be having an unexpected effect on the health of the microbes in our guts. Research carried out on both animals and humans appears to pinpoint a direct link between emulsifiers and ill health. One French study of more than 100,000 adults in 2024 found those who were more exposed to emulsifiers had a greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Another study of more than 90,000 adults found a potential link between emulsifiers and breast and prostate cancers.

2/20/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Researchers Retrieve the Deepest-Ever Rock Core from Beneath Antarctica’s Ice. It Holds Clues About the Earth’s Past—and Future - The 748-foot-long sediment core contains a record of roughly the past 23 million years, including periods when the planet’s surface temperature was hotter than it is today.

2/20/2026 National Parks Traveler Tidal Basin Gets Hundreds of New Cherry Trees - Paid for by a generous donation from the nation of Japan, the trees represent the most recent chapter in this remarkable cultural exchange dating back to Japan's original gift of cherry trees in 1912.

2/19/2026 Science Daily New sodium ion battery stores twice the energy and desalinates seawater - Being able to use sodium vanadate hydrate in salt water is a really exciting discovery, as it shows sodium-ion batteries could do more than just store energy -- they could also help remove salt from water. In the long term, that means we might be able to design systems that use seawater as a completely safe, free and abundant electrolyte, while also producing fresh water as part of the process.

2/18/2026 The Guardian Hazardous substances found in all headphones tested by ToxFREE project - Bisphenol A (BPA) appeared in 98% of samples, and its substitute, bisphenol S (BPS), was found in more than three-quarters. Synthetic chemicals used to stiffen plastic, BPA and BPS mimic the action of estrogen inside organisms, causing a range of adverse effects including the feminization of males, early onset puberty in girls, and cancer. Previous studies have shown that bisphenols can migrate from synthetic materials into sweat, and that they can be absorbed through the skin. Given the prolonged skin contact associated with headphone use, dermal exposure represents a relevant pathway, and it is reasonable to assume that similar migration of BPA and its substitutes may occur from headphone components directly to the user’s skin.

2/17/2026 The Conversation Air pollution may directly contribute to Alzheimer’s disease – U.S. researchers tracked nearly 28 million older adults over six years nationwide. They found that those exposed to higher levels of fine particulate air pollution were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. The US study used Medicare insurance claims to confirm Alzheimer’s diagnoses and area data by postcode for fine particle pollution levels. It also looked at other factors that could explain the link, such as the proportion of smokers or overweight people living in more or less polluted areas.

1/15/2026 Science Daily Scientists question the safety of BPA-free packaging - BPA-free is an incredibly misleading label. It usually means one bisphenol has been swapped for another, and there are more than 200 of them. Some may be just as harmful, or even worse. We need to test these compounds before they're widely adopted, not after.

2/11/2026 Archaeology Magazine What Caused Ancient People to Abandon a Fruitful Bison Hunting Site? - For around 700 years, Native people of the American Great Plains hunted bison at a site in central Montana that archaeologists call Bergstrom. Then, around 1,100 years ago, humans abandoned the site even though bison remained abundant in the area. Researchers discovered that drought caused the water supply to process the animals at the site dried up…forcing the hunters to move away.

2/23/2026 Planetizen California Seals 21 Urban Oil Wells in South LA After Decades of Activism – There are too many stories like this – why do we ever trust the oil companies to not walk way and leave a toxic mess? I’m glad the state is stepping in…but the companies that made money from the site over the years need to be held financially accountable.

2/23/2026 Science Daily Babies exposed to far more “forever chemicals” before birth than scientists knew - By using advanced chemical screening on umbilical cord blood, scientists detected 42 different PFAS compounds, including many that standard tests do not routinely check for. These long lasting chemicals are found in common products like nonstick cookware, food packaging, and stain resistant fabrics, and they can build up in the body over time. The study helps show that prenatal PFAS exposure is more complex and widespread than earlier studies suggested

Plastic Crisis: Milk

My regular grocery store only had milk in plastic jugs and plastic lined cartons. That is not good since milk has enough fat to make the chemicals in the plastic more likely to leach into the milk. Recently by daughter noticed that there was an option of milk in glass bottles at her grocery store and I am trying it! There is a deposit on the glass bottle to encourage people to return them…and buy the milk again!

The milk is from a dairy located about an hour from Springfield MO. They use low temperature vat pasteurization; I read that many people with lactose intolerance can drink the milk without problems…and I am pleasantly surprised that it is true for me.  

While I don’t know the plastics that might be in the dairy processing, at least the packaging of the milk is in a reused glass bottle and the ability to drink it without taking a Lactaid is just another benefit. The only downside is that it is a bit more expensive; for me the benefits outweigh that expense.

Plastic Crisis: Creating a ‘Reduce your Microplastic Exposure’ Mind Map

One of the first mind maps I worked on after purchasing the MindNode app was about reducing microplastic exposure. It was a good way to collect my thoughts and learn the tool. I am gearing up for spring and early summer tabling and talks on plastics – feeling the need to get organized and hone the way I deliver the message!

The mind map is still a work in progress – I still don’t have anything about household cleaners or water filtering (for drinking and maybe for shower). The things I feel are the biggest issues (heat/plastic/food and synthetic textiles) are there, but they may get more detail over time. I haven’t figured out where to put ditching the plastic cutting board. My goal is to create one page mind maps on various perspectives of the plastics issue and either use them directly as conversation starters or translate them into other forms for presentation.

It feels good to be creating mind maps again and I like MindNode. Years ago – during my career (over 15 years ago) – I created a lot of mind maps using MindManager but it is now too expensive for individuals (and overly complex for what I need)!

Plastics Crisis - Textiles

There seem to be plastics everywhere. I’ve come to realize that in my home, the largest source is probably textiles! The carpets that were in the house when we purchased it a few years ago are likely all synthetic fibers (although about 1/3 of the house is tile or vinyl (plastic)). When we vacuum the particles are gray and powdery…the plastic there is already very small.

And then there are clothes. We have some clothes that are cotton or cotton/polyester (plastic)…but some items are 100% synthetic (polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex). I don’t dry more than half my clothes that are synthetic fibers, but there are enough that the lint from the dryer should probably be considered toxic (probably should put it in a covered trash can so microplastics will not waft from it); I hope washing machine technology will eventually filter their waste water but I’m not sure how to handle what a filter would collect safely).

Back in March 2019 I posted some macro photography of textiles; I’ve copied it below with some commentary afterward.

—

I am finally experimenting with my 60x macro lens that I got for my phone. Textiles around the house were an easy project. The lens has a light and I found it handy. With this lens, I use the zoom on the phone to avoid clipping the image to take out the vignetting around the edges. I’d rather compose the image in the camera.

I liked the simple weave and colors of the worn dishcloth.

A crocheted hat had brilliant color but was not flat enough to focus well.

The washcloth had more fuzzy fibers than I expected but

Not nearly as many as the wool sock.

I got stuck on a tapestry jacket…had a challenge to choose just 3 to include in this post. The last one was from the inside of the jacket.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

The machine embroidery of a silk jacket looked very different than I anticipated.

The weave of a light-weight jacket was more complex.

I realized that the patterns on t-shirts were painted – but hadn’t thought about what they would look like with the macro lens. The blobs of color stand out on the surface of the cotton knit.

View fullsize

View fullsize

The most non-fuzzy fabric was microfiber underwear!

The yarn in the bulky cardigan was almost too big to look interesting at this magnification.

Machine-made borders look more orderly than the fabric sometimes (the black is thread).

The eye detects tiny holes in the fabric of the bag for delicate fabrics to go in the washer; with macro lens, it looks like a Zentangle.

After I got back to my office, I looked at two mouse pads with the macro lens. One is a woven surface…the other looks like a paint.

View fullsize

View fullsize

--

The macro photographs make it easy to see how easily fibers escape from our clothes and carpets.

Right now I am thinking that at home the 1st priority is to not have any plastic around heat (mostly in the kitchen) and the 2nd is reducing synthetic textiles!

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 14, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

12/18/2025 Ozark Public Television Wild Ozarks: A Legacy of Conservation – Very well done. I am recommending it to be part of the core training for the next group of Springfield Plateau Missouri Master Naturalists!

2026 Million Marker Test Kit – I’m going to do as much as I can to reduce microplastics…then do this test….probably next summer. It is advertised as the only mail-in test for BPA, BPS, BPF, phthalates, parabens, and oxybenzone.

2/3/2026 Yale 360 China to See Solar Capacity Outstrip Coal Capacity This Year - By the end of 2026, wind and solar will account for nearly half of China’s power capacity. Including hydro and nuclear power, clean energy will amount to nearly two-thirds of total power capacity, while coal will amount to a third. Competing with cheap solar and wind, a large share of coal plants are now operating at a loss.

2/1/2026 Cool Green Science Catching Sharks for Science - On Long Beach Island, volunteer anglers help researchers uncover the hidden journeys of sharks in threatened salt marsh ecosystems.

2/3/2026 Science Daily Even remote Pacific fish are full of microplastics - Even in some of the most isolated corners of the Pacific, plastic pollution has quietly worked its way into the food web. A large analysis of fish caught around Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu found that roughly one in three contained microplastics, with Fiji standing out for especially high contamination. Reef and bottom-dwelling fish were most affected, linking exposure to where fish live and how they feed.

2/1/2026 National Parks Traveler New York Art Teacher Earns 30 National Park Resident Artist Spots In 10 Years – Artist-in-residence at National Park Service sites. Many of the programs are funded by nonprofits, grants, or donations made directly to the Park Service. Categories are broad and include writers, painters, photographers, musicians, dancers, sculptors, and animators. 

1/30/2026 My Modern Met Society of Photographers 2025 Contest Announces Its Astounding Winners – Chosen from over 6,000 photographs submitted!

1/29/2026 BBC From bad omen to national treasure: The rare bone-swallower stork saved by a female army - Known locally as the hargila (or "bone-swallower") for its scavenging ways, greater adjutant storks are unique birds. Roughly 5ft (1.5m) tall, they aren't only imposing but also play a vital role in maintaining the health of a wetland ecosystem. As scavengers that consume and clean up carcasses, they prevent the spread of disease and break down decaying organic matter, recycling essential nutrients back into the soil. They were feared, reviled and in some communities, hunted for their meat which was once widely used in folk medicine as a cure for leprosy or antidote to poison.

1/28/2026 Archaeology Magazine Study tracks wild potato across the Southwest - People carried a small, wild potato known as the Four Corners potato (Solanum jamesii), across the southwestern United States some 10,000 years ago.

1/27/2026 Super Age Wellness Is Finally Admitting It Got the Last Decade Wrong – The article lists 10 trends from the 2026 Global Wellness Report. One of the 10 is “Microplastics are at threat to healthspan.”

Plastics Crisis – Donating Plastic and Valentine’s Plans

I’ve gathered plastic from my kitchen and am donating it to Goodwill. The large plastic bin full of old water bottles/travel mugs and the yellow bowl is a Tupperware cake container that I’ve had for almost my whole married life (i.e. over 50 years)!

I’ve gathered plastic from my kitchen and am donating it to Goodwill. The large plastic bin full of old water bottles/travel mugs and the yellow bowl is a Tupperware cake container that I’ve had for almost my whole married life (i.e. over 50 years)!

It’s better to donate the supposedly reusable plastic rather than sending it to the landfill although it will likely be used in someone else’s kitchen; I feel guilty about enabling that. I also added a coffee maker (minus the carafe) since I replaced it with a glass and stainless electric tea kettle. I will never have this kind of plastic to donate again.

Switching from donating plastic to Valentine’s Day plans…

Our Valentine’s Day celebration does not involve as much plastic as some other holidays since we don’t decorate (no balloons or glitter). There are a few gift ceramic mugs that were added in past years; we are past the need to buy a valentine’s gift; the only chocolate I like is my usual ethically sourced dark chocolate packaged in foil and heavy paper – and I don’t wait for a holiday to enjoy it. If the weather is good, we might do a winter walk around the Botanical Garden. I might check the thrift store for a dressy item for the day…and the rest of winter…when I make the donation to Goodwill. We might go out to eat – not to fast food and we probably won’t have leftovers (no plastic utensils or take out boxes); or maybe we’ll just go out for a special dessert. Looking back at the 2/14 celebrations in the past few years – the biggest single use plastic of the day might be clamshell packaging for a piece of red velvet cake – and I’ll do without that this year.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 7, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

1/22/2026 I’m Plastic Free How Geography Impacts Plastic-Free Living - Many people want to reduce plastic, but simply don’t have the tools nearby. In larger cities, it’s often easier to find refill stores, farmers’ markets, and shops that sell loose produce, but the access varies widely between wealthier and lower-income city areas. Living in a city doesn’t guarantee sustainable options. here are a variety of factors that determine the amount of plastic used by consumers. These usually include their location, the system of commerce, and the accessibility of plastic products. Understanding how an area shapes shopping decisions will lead to people advocating for a change where it matters the most.

1/22/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Europe, Wind and Solar Power Overtakes Fossil Fuels - Last year, for the first time, wind and solar supplied more power than fossil fuels to the E.U. In parts of Europe, there are signs that increasingly cheap batteries are beginning to displace natural gas in the early evening, when power demand is high, but solar output is waning.

1/23/2025 Smithsonian Magazine United Nations Declares That the World Has Entered an Era of ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’ - Life around the world has been feeling the effects of climate change, land degradation, deforestation, pollution and the overuse of water. Ultimately, most regions are using too much of their renewable “income” of water from rivers and snowmelt and have emptied their “savings” in groundwater and other reservoirs, ushering in an era of “global water bankruptcy.” We cannot rebuild vanished glaciers or reinflate acutely compacted aquifers. But we can prevent further losses and redesign institutions to live within new hydrological limits.

1/21/2026 BBC Future How the nutritional benefits of foods change as you age - The two main nutrients we should focus on in old age are calcium and vitamin D. Eating enough quality protein is also really important as we age.

1/20/2026 ScienceDaily Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis - Scientists at Stanford Medicine have discovered a treatment that can reverse cartilage loss in aging joints and even prevent arthritis after knee injuries. By blocking a protein linked to aging, the therapy restored healthy, shock-absorbing cartilage in old mice and injured joints, dramatically improving movement and joint function. Human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries also began regenerating when exposed to the treatment. Human trials will be launched soon.

1/12/2026 The Daily Show Vitamin Plastic Water: Don’t Just Consume Microplastics, Enjoy Them! – Humor in a plastic world.

1/20/2026 NASA Explore North America’s Greenhouse Hub - In the Leamington (Ontario) area, growers cultivate vegetables and other crops within millions of square feet of greenhouse space. Commercial greenhouse operations began to gain a foothold in this area in the 1960s and 1970s as technology advanced and regional demand for fresh vegetables increased. Since then, the industry has continued to grow, securing Leamington’s reputation as the “greenhouse capital of North America.”

1/20/2026 NPR Polyester clothing has been causing a stir online. But how valid are the concerns? - Though polyester has been around for a while, in many cases, manufacturers have begun using polyester for items that natural fibers would be better suited for. For example, polyester is often found in summer clothes, even though the material traps heat. And people eventually dump clothes that are uncomfortable. Mounds of abandoned clothing are showing up on coastlines in countries like Ghana, India and Chile, Palladino said. Ghana, for example, has a large market for upcycling clothes. But many of the clothes it receives from the U.S. are of increasingly lower quality, so some purchasers dump them in lagoons and landfills, which end up in the oceans. Natural fibers clothing have cost you a little more, but you're going to have it longer.

1/19/2026 ArtNet The Forgotten Designer Who Created America’s First National Parks Posters - Dorothy Waugh was a pioneering Modernist designer who created the U.S. government’s first in-house National Parks poster campaign during the Great Depression, is the subject of her first-ever solo exhibition. After leaving the NPS, Waugh got a job at Knopf, founding and leading the publishing house’s Books for Young Adults Division. She also worked for 25 years as the head of public relations at the Montclair Public Library in New Jersey. In addition, Waugh was an educator, offering the first-ever course in typography at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, now the Parsons School of Design. On top of all that, she moonlighted as journalist and poet, and even as a radio personality, with her own regional radio program. She also wrote and illustrated many books for children, as well as two scholarly tomes on the poet Emily Dickinson. The last of those was published when Waugh, who lived to be 99, was 94.

1/18/2026 Our World in Data How have crime rates in the United States changed over the last 50 years? - Several crimes fall within the category of violent crimes. In US statistics, this includes homicide (murder and non-negligent manslaughter), rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crime rates increased during the 1980s, reaching a peak in the early 1990s at around 750 offenses per 100,000. Since then, rates have more than halved. Over the past three decades, rates have fluctuated slightly from year to year, but the overall trend has been downward.

Plastics Crisis – Action at the Community Level – January 2026

The weekly Plastics Crisis posts are dominated by what I am doing as an individual to reduce my plastics exposure – but I am also acting at a community level as well; my plan is to post at least once a month to document those actions. Looking back at January, there was a bigger variety than I anticipated at the beginning of the month.

Beyond Plastics Ozarks is ramping up! We added a few additional members, and I hosted my first zoom meeting for the group. I experimented with annotating the Zoom generated summary rather than writing up my own notes; it seems to work reasonably well but I will still take plenty of notes during the meeting!

I was part of a meeting with a Springfield Councilmember organized by the Show-me less plastic project.

I  recorded a segment of the KSMU Growing the Ozarks podcast about Microplastics in the Environment. It was an adventure for me – going to the recording studio on the Missouri State University campus (taking some pictures as I waited in the foyer) and getting the recording acceptable on the first try thanks to my experienced interviewer.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

During my travel to Lewisville TX, I noticed a lot of plastic at the hotel’s breakfast service…and used the survey from the hotel afterward to indicate my concern about Styrofoam plates and plastic utensils with hot food. I had stayed at the same brand/chain in St. Joseph MO and they had used ceramic plates and stainless utensils. The General Manager of the hotel responded: “We truly appreciate your suggestions about reducing single-use plastics and will share them with our leadership team for consideration.” I stay at the same hotel every month when I visit my dad so I will know if they make changes.

I helped with a lunch trash audit at a private school in Springfield organized by the Show-me less plastic project. The teacher was a fellow Missouri Master Naturalist and had done a great job preparing for the event – having the elementary students make posters for the initial sorting: food waste, non-plastic trash, reuse, and plastic trash. After their lunch the students put their trash in the correct bin.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

We (the adults) moved to a classroom with tarps over tables and on the floor which would be used for sorting by students over 3 class periods. The third and fourth graders divided into 4 groups and used the tarp covered table for the non-plastic  and plastic trash respectively while the second graders used the floor tarp to sort reuse/recycle.

View fullsize

View fullsize

The sorting of the plastic trash was the most thorough – with a worksheet for each group to categorize pieces of trash as they counted. Some of it was quite small!  

View fullsize

View fullsize

The next action the school is considering is to do a plastic free lunch!

In looking back at January, I am wondering if there will be as much every month or whether January unusual. This type of volunteering has components that are new to me; my strategy is to let it develop rather than try too hard to determine its direction!